Why Pneumatic Nail Guns Need Oil

Power tools need to be properly maintained to ensure that their lifespan is not cut short. Nail guns especially need to be oiled often so that they work properly when you need them most. But why do you need to oil your pneumatic nail gun?

Reasons to Oil Your Nail Gun

Daily maintenance is required for a nail gun, but this needs to be done by construction workers and people using their nail guns all day long. If you’re using your nail gun to drive 10 nails, you likely don’t need to oil it for months at a time.

But you want to make sure that you do oil your model.

The reason why we oil nail guns so often is so that all of the moving parts operate properly. A few of the most important areas to oil your nail gun include:

Air Fitting: The only main area that you need to oil often. The air fitting needs to be oiled daily. If you’re working all day, drop two drops of oil into the fitting in the morning and afternoon for best results.

And that’s really it for oiling. But you do want to perform the following maintenance alongside your daily oiling:

Trigger: A trigger that is stuck or simply doesn’t respond to your pull quickly will hinder your performance. And you want to check the trigger and safety every day to ensure that everything is moving freely. Tighten any bolts or screws as necessary.

Feed System: The feed system needs to provide smoothness with each nail. Clean the unit with a rag or compressed air. Some users will drop oil here, too, but we find it attracts debris.

If you don’t oil your unit, you’ll lessen its lifespan and have a harder time on the job. Oil allows for all of the internal parts to work properly and smoothly.

Oil Types Matter

The oil you choose matters. There are washers and rubber seals inside of your nail gun that don’t react well to certain oil types. If you’re using just any old kind of oil, the viscosity may not be right or the chemical makeup of the oil may be too harsh for the unit.

We’ve seen oil eat away at rubber seals and components, lessening the lifespan of the nailer.

You’ll want to choose pneumatic tool oil. But you also need to remember that the climate and temperature have an impact on the oil needed. You’ll find two main types of oil available:

Winter.

Daily or regular.

If you plan on working outside when it’s cold or there are harsh weather conditions, you’ll want a different type of oil. There are winter-specific oils made for pneumatic tools, and this is what we recommend. This will protect your nail gun’s inner parts and components so that they don’t rub together.

As you’re using a nail gun, you’re shooting nails rapidly and this will cause internal heat to buildup.

Oil protects all of these internal components from heat buildup and wear and tear. If you don’t want your metal components to cause excess heat and end up ceasing your nail gun, you’ll need to oil your pneumatic nail gun often.